Subscribe

SURVEY: Help desk moves to the cloud

Two thirds of SA business are in favour of a cloud-based help desk solution, according to a recent survey.

By Suzanne Franco, Surveys Editorial Project Manager at ITWeb.
Johannesburg, 01 Sept 2017

IT management is the backbone of an organisation. It provides an essential link between business objectives and IT priorities and, as such, contributes to a company's success or failure.

ITWeb, in collaboration with ITR Technology, conducted a Simplifying IT Management survey to gain insight into the IT management strategies of South African businesses.

Just over half (55%) of the survey respondents said their organisation has implemented an IT service management (ITSM) system. The main objective was to improve the quality and efficiency of IT services, followed by the need to comply with business requirements.

"Compliance, auditing and business overview are some of the additional benefits that we can mention," comments Philip Slimowitz, CEO of ITR Technology.

"Without an ITSM system, management is unable to understand the shortcomings of the business or isolate problem areas and thus unable to plan for the future."

ITIL - Information Technology Infrastructure Library - is a set of detailed practices for IT service management that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs of business. Over 50% of the survey respondents indicated that ITIL plays a big role in their IT environment.

Preventing data loss

Almost all (94%) of the participants believed they knew how to ensure data is not lost within their organisation.

"There are various systems, from cloud to on-premises systems, available," says Slimowitz. "Businesses are made up of data, which is acquired over time with specific expertise. If this data is lost, there is a huge hole left in a business which, in some instances, could cripple a company and force it into closure."

However, it emerged from the survey that almost a half of the businesses surveyed do not have systems in place to avoid employees stealing data or working on hobby-related tasks during working hours.

"As the business environment becomes tougher, business owners need to be able to monitor that they are getting the value they are paying for from staff. There also needs to be a level of trust between the business and staff. By implementing proper process and software, a business can limit the risk of staff stealing valuable information, IP or clients," Slimowitz points out.

On-premises vs cloud

It comes as no surprise that the majority (74%) of organisations use a help desk ticketing system.

"It is critical for any process-based business to have a ticketing and tracking system," comments Slimowitz, adding that the 'roadblocks' associated with this subject are traditionally cost and establishment of processes within a business.

Two thirds of the respondents are in favour of a cloud-based help desk solution, while one third prefers an on-premises solution.

"Cloud costs are becoming cheaper, versus having an onsite system with regards to hardware, licensing and maintenance," notes Slimowitz, adding that some cloud critics have mentioned data security and the loss of some functionality between cloud and onsite.

"Choosing the correct service desk is critical. The following questions should be asked: Does the service desk of choice meet your current needs and future growth plans? Is there constant development of the product? Is there local support of the product? What awards has the product won locally and internationally? Is it within your budget?"

Slimowitz adds that once a product has been selected, the vendor should either assist with implementation or provide proper training on the service desk, understanding how it will fit in your business.

"Education is key for all your critical staff members that will be using the product, and there would need to be buy-in from every department that will be connected to the service desk," Slimowitz concludes.

About the survey

The 2017 Simplifying IT Management Survey was run online on ITWeb for a period of two weeks, in May and June, to gain insight into the IT management practices of South African organisations. It set out to examine:

1 The state of IT management systems implementation;
2 If and how organisations are using help desk ticketing systems; and
3 The level of awareness of data protection tools.

Who responded

* A total of 381 respondents participated in the survey.
* 28% of respondents are CEOs or MDs and 38% are middle managers.
* 23% of survey respondents are from fairly large companies with between 501-5 000 employees and 16% are from multinationals with over 10 000 employees.

Help desk moves to the cloud
Help desk moves to the cloud
Help desk moves to the cloud
Help desk moves to the cloud
Help desk moves to the cloud
Help desk moves to the cloud
Help desk moves to the cloud
Help desk moves to the cloud

Share